Lucknow: Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad ‘Ravan’, who was arrested for his alleged role in the Thakur-Dalit clash in Saharanpur last year, has announced his support for the joint opposition candidate Tabassum Hasan in the Kairana bypoll to be held on May 28.

“I, Chandrashekhar Azad, declare my support for ‘maha-gathbandhan’ (SP-RLD alliance) candidate in Kairana bypolls. I would like to request the people of Bahujan Samaj to unanimously vote for the joint opposition candidate. I hope everyone will help us in this,” read the hand-written letter of Bhim Army chief.

A detailed letter was released by Bhim Army Ekta Mission district president Pravin Gautam in Saharanpur on Thursday evening along with the note Azad had written from the jail. He was put behind bars after being booked under National Security Act (NSA), just a day after the Allahabad High Court granted him bail in the Saharanpur riots case.

The letter stated that the Bhim Army chief has appealed the people to not let their votes get divided and unanimously vote for Tabassum Hasan to protect the Constitution and save of democracy. Azad said that the move was necessary taking into consideration the recent developments, and to stop the attacks on Scheduled Castes. He asked people to teach the "anti-Bahujan Samaj" and “dictatorial" government a lesson by using the power granted to citizen by Baba sahib Ambedkar.

The letter further said that those participated who in the recent rallies in Bhima Koregaon, Pune and Gujarat were killed and put behind bars, many educated youths were also implicated in false cases and sent to jail. Hence, Azad wants every member of the Bahujan Samaj to vote for the joint opposition candidate.

Rashtriya Lok Dal which has fielded Tabassum Hasan as the joint opposition nominee to take on BJP's Mriganka Singh in the Kairana Lok Sabha bypoll got the boost, when Lok Dal candidate Kanwar Hasan embraced the party and pulled out of the electoral race.

Senior RLD leaders heaved a sigh of relief and said the possibility of a split in Muslim votes was no longer there now. "The process of forming a coalition (against the BJP) has started and soon, a grand alliance will be formed, the UP RLD chief said.

Kanwar Hasan who was fielded by Lok Dal as its candidate from Kairana is the brother-in-law of Tabassum Hasan.

The Kairana bypoll was necessitated by the death of sitting MP Hukum Singh in February. Voting for Kairana Lok Sabha will be held on May 28. Kairana parliamentary constituency comprises five assembly segments — Shamli, Thanabhawan, Kairana (all in Shamli district) and Gangoh and Nakur (Saharanpur district).

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJPs Hukum Singh had bagged 5,65,909 votes as he defeated Nahid Hasan of the SP who got 3,29,081 votes.